Mini Talon X-UAV from FPV Model

January 2016

	Ready for fun!

Introduction

Decided to try the Mini Talon as a way to get a medium range plane I could easily throw in my car. I looked at the Twin Star and the Floater Jet but finally decided on the Mini Talon because my large Talon is such a great flyer and it is relativley inexpensive.

Airframe and Controls

I did decide to try a set of Digital servos mainly because I had them already. The linkage was changed to small Dubro 2-56 ball-ends on the Elevons because of the high miss-allignment btween the controll surface and the sevo arm travel.

Ball-end linkage on the elevons

For this build, I decided to try an RTFQ ReadyToFly 2.8 flight controller to save a few bucks and check out if they are reliable and as easy to set-up as my APM. I am using APMPlane 3.3 firmware.

For an OSD, I am running an RTFQ MicroMinium OSD with my own character set.

For radio gear I am using DragonLink V2 with the MicroRX Copter receiver.

Specifications

Build date - January 2016

Wingspan - 1,300mm (51in)	Wing Area - 30dm^2 (465sqin)
Length - 830mm (33in)	Wing Load - 66g/dm^2 (21oz/sqft)
Motor - Cobra 2221/16 - 940Kv	ESC - Cobra 33A
Battery - 8,000mAh MultiStar	Propeller - APCe 8 x 6 to Aeronaut 9.5 x 6 folder
*All Up Weight (no battery) - 1,314g (47oz)	*Weight with 8,000mAh pack - 1,955g (69oz)
*Weights shown are with a three axis gimbal

Build/Layout

I won't spend anytime on pictures of assembling/gluing the foam bits together. I'll just show any mods and/or custom setups I did for this build. This starts with a simple layout with the Flight controller mounted on a plywood plate with rubber dampers attached between the wing support plates.

Flight Controller mounted on plywood plate with Micro MinimOSD servo taped to the top of the case

Layout showing the Flight Controller, Micro MinimOSD, FPV power module and GPS

On the front I built an "FPV" module which includes the VTx, DL 1,3G Dipole antenna, a Storm32 brushless gimbal control board, an Effio camera, a three axis gimbal with Mobius camera and a two way camera switch.

FPV module showing the DragonLink 1.3G Dipole antenna and a Low Pass filter which will not be used

FPV module - Bottom view with VTx aluminum shield and heatsink

To power the FPV module I printed a mount plate for a 12v regulator, a 5v regulator and an RMRC LC power filter. All three components are mounted on foam tape with wire ties to hold them down.

FPV Power Module

Power module schematic

FPV Module views

Side view with VTx antenna

To install the VTx Dipole I had to design a simple 3D printed thumb wrench which would fit through the hole in the fuselage.

DragonLink dipole and wrench

Front view with smaller 2 axis Gimbal and Kevlar skid - Ready for Maiden!

Maiden

When I get it done and written i will surely post it!